Tammy Letherer Hello loved ones,
Last week I offered free recordings of my Inspirational Blogging class to the first three people to email me the words “I’m in.” I heard from Shirley, who shared with me 
much more than those two words. She told me about the death of her ex-husband and the power that 30-year-old memories can have.
I wrote to Shirley that I understand how the pain of divorce can live on in unexpected ways. I didn’t intend to mention my father, but found myself writing, “When my dad died, I felt grief for him and for my former husband. It was all rolled into the same space in my energy body.”
Shirley surprised me by offering to send me my dad’s Bible. She said she had no idea how she ended up with it.
That made two of us.
Until that moment, I didn’t know that Shirley lived in the same town as my dad. I didn’t realize they knew each other. I only visited my dad twice and don’t think I’ve ever met Shirley. I thought she was a random reader I had somehow picked up on the internet.
Yet here I am, a few days later, with my dad’s Bible in my hands. It’s the only thing I have that belonged to him.
As I was typing my thanks to Shirley for this simple gift, I heard the words of the Shaker song.
‘Tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free,
‘Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be…
All week I’ve been trying to figure out where I ought to be. In my Inspirational Blogging class I talk about inviting grace to be your writing partner. That means being open to what is trying to express through you, rather than forcing your message. Reject the teeth gnashing! I say. And yet I too get caught in gnashing and churning, turning from one blog idea to the next. It’s not a shortage of ideas that stops me. It’s too many false starts that go nowhere.
Finally I had to take my own advice and ask myself, “What happened this week? What have I glossed over or minimized? What’s too big to put into words?”
Oh right. Shit. There was this gift from Shirley, this thing with my dad’s name inside and the marks of his pen underlining certain passages.
It’s a simple story, and makes a simple blog. I’m not so sure about the “nugget,” which is what I call the key message. But at least the words are on the page.
I’ve churned it out.
Maybe the meaning is found in the words of the song:
To turn, turn will be our delight,
‘Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.
[bctt tweet=”Inviting grace to be your writing partner means being open to what is trying to express through you, rather than forcing your message.” username=”@TLetherer”]
